It is an interesting fact that in 1964 Beuys projects Ingmar Bergman's Silence verbally into the "context which is directly related to Duchamp" and much later, in 1973, reinterprets it in the form of a multiple. If at that time a parallel was drawn between artistic silence and human silence as lack of communication, understanding, warmth, love, as the agony of art and life, the meanings conveyed by the multiple are further-reaching.
By galvanizing the five film reels, Beuys rendered them unusable; i.e., this way The Silence cannot be prolonged. It is finally contained and brought to an end and at the same time conserved as a memento... Beuys reinterpreted Bergman's film reels as objects capable of storing energy and warmth.' - On the Multiples of Joseph Beuys, Dierk Stemmer, 1975, Joseph Beuys: The Multiples, Jörg Schellmann, 1997
Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom and Jörgen Lindström in The Silence
Ingrid Thulin and Ingmar Bergman on the set of The Silence
Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom in Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence
Provenance
Private Collection Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, California
Literature
Jörg Schellmann 80 Dieter Schwarz 1973.03
Catalogue Essay
Including: 1. Hustenanfall Gletscher+; 2. Zwerge – Animalisierung; 3. Vergangenheit – Vegetabilisierung; 4. Panzer – Mechanisierung; and 5. Wir sind frei - Geysir+
1973 Five original 35mm projection reels of the 1962 film Das Schweigen, directed by Ingmar Bergman, lacquered and plated in copper and zinc baths, contained in the original black card box. each reel 2 x 15 x 15 in. (5.1 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm) Each reel with a metal plaque embossed with title and numbered 1-5, the first reel embossed with numbering '35' from the edition of 50 on an additional metal plaque (there were also 10 artist's proofs), co-published by Edition René Block, Berlin and Multiples, Inc., New York.